This application is related to U.S. application Ser. Nos. 10/872,266 entitled “STACKABLE ICONS”, and 10/872,050 entitled “AUTOMATED SEARCH PARAMETER RESUBMISSION FOR MAP BASED SEARCHES, both of which are also assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and were filed the same day as the present application. The contents of the related applications are incorporated by reference their entirety.
Hierarchical category indices, in which information is arranged in a “tree” taxonomy, have long been well known. For example, naturalists from Aristotle to Linnaeus to Darwin and on down have arranged information about living things according to hierarchical categories. More recently, it has been known to arrange information, such as information in a directory such as a yellow pages directory, according to a hierarchical category index. Even more recently, it has been known to arrange information on the Internet, e.g., on the World Wide Web, according to hierarchical category indices. For example, many of today's web sites include “site maps” that display an organization of web pages in a web site according to a hierarchical category index. Further, numerous known web sites allow users to search for items, such as items in a directory, according to a hierarchical category index.
It is also well known to display maps of indicated geographic areas on the World Wide Web. Moreover, it is known to search for items in a directory, limiting the search to an indicated geographic area of interest. Then, when a search item is found, the location of the item may be indicated on a map of the indicated geographic area of interest.
Users often do not know, however, the specific name, or perhaps even the specific category, of the item for which they are searching. For example, users of online “yellow page” systems often know they want to find, for example, a florist in a particular area, without knowing the names or locations of any florists in that area.
Further, users may want to be able to concentrate their errands in a geographic area, and thus may want to know the locations of several different kinds of businesses in a particular area. To take just one example, a user might want to find dry cleaners, florists, and pharmacies in a particular geographic area. However, prior art systems are unable to present simultaneously this disparate information to a user; prior art yellow pages systems, for example, are unable to display a map showing the locations of all found items in all indicated categories of interest in an indicated geographic area.
Accordingly, there is a need for the ability to search for items according to both a category of interest and a geographic area of interest, and to further display search results according to both the category of interest and the geographic area of interest. A system that meets these needs would provide the benefit of allowing users to search for items in a geographic area according to a category even when they were not looking for a specific item. Moreover, such a system would provide the benefit of providing users with a visual, map-based presentation of all items in the category of interest in the geographic area of interest. Additionally, such a system would provide the benefit of providing users with a visual, map-based presentation of all categories of interest in the geographic area of interest.
Further, particularly in densely populated areas, it often happens that multiple items in a single category are located in the same, or practically the same, location. For example, a single mall, shopping center, or office building may contain many businesses, one or more of which are responsive to a request. For instance, certain office buildings contain many law firms, certain malls have many shoe stores, etc. One reason that prior art systems have not overcome the limitation of not being able to search for all items in a category in a geographic area and then showing the location of found items on a map is that prior art systems do not have the ability to effectively display multiple items at a single location on a map of a geographic area. Accordingly, there is a need for a system that effectively displays information about multiple items in the same location on a map.
The present invention overcomes the limitations of the prior art by enabling a user to search for all items in an indicated category within a geographic area, and then displaying icons representing the locations of found items on a map of the geographic area, and moreover effectively displaying information about items found at the same location on the map.